Wednesday, April 21, 2004

Sandy Creek girls drop region soccer match to Chapel Hill

The Sandy Creek Lady Patriots couldn’t have asked for a better afternoon to host a soccer game, but they could have asked for a better result.

They hosted the Lady Panthers of Chapel Hill Friday afternoon and lost 4-2.Chapel Hill started strong with solid ball control and several scoring opportunities in the first few minutes. Sandy Creek responded toward the end of the first 10 minutes of play with an excellent scoring opportunity that just missed landing in the upper right hand corner of the net.

Chapel Hill then made another offensive push and scored just past the 20-minute mark in the first half with a shot that beat goalie Kristen Burnett to the lower right hand corner of the net. Chapel Hill added another goal five minutes later to take a 2-0 lead into the half.

Burnett made several key saves that kept the game closer in the first half and the beginning of the second half, but a defensive breakdown just under 10 minutes into the second half gave the Lady Panthers a 3-0 lead.

Sandy Creek’s girls got more aggressive at that point, keeping Chapel Hill’s scoring opportunities down as the Lady Panthers tried to start something on offense.With seven minutes left in the game, Sandy Creek’s Malika Rajendra scored off of a direct kick with a beautiful shot.

Chapel Hill answered less than three minutes later with another goal, but Sandy Creek wasn’t done yet. With 7.7 seconds left, Katie Wilson beat the Chapel Hill goalie to make the final score 4-2.The Lady Patriots gave a good effort in the match but did not handle the ball as well as Chapel Hill.

A few unlucky bounces either gave Chapel Hill an advantage as they came down the field or stopped a good scoring opportunity from occurring for Sandy Creek. Sandy Creek’s boys and girls soccer team will host Northgate tomorrow night for their final game of the regular season and for senior night.